I test drove a 2010 Camry Base Model with a 6 speed manual transmission. When stepping off the gas pedal and depressing ths clutch, the motor does not decelerate. The service technician says that this is by Toyota design to allow for the 6 speed transmission and the gear change ratios.
I have driven a manual transmission for many years and have never experienced a situation like this. In the past when I depressed the clutch and took my foot off of the accelerator, the motor slowed its pace. Does anyone have an opinion on this 2010 Toyota plan ? I am trying to figure out whether to purchase this model of 2010 Camry.
I don’t understand the logic given by the service tech. The engine needs to slow down about 800 rpm to match the motor speed to the wheel speed in the next higher gear. I’d test drive another manual Camry and if it is the same I’d pass on it. Seems like a set up like this would put extra strain on the clutch and drivetrain that in time would require more service.
I think the car you test drove had problems.
Okay, here’s my guess.
Matching the engine speed to the speed it will be in in the next gear makes for smoother shifts, along with reduced clutch and synchronizer wear. Usually the engine’s tendency to slow down in neutral does a pretty good job of this given normal differences between gear ratios and how fast people shift. However, if the Camry is anything like the other more-than-5 speed cars I’ve driven, the difference between ratios isn’t that much and so you can’t lose as much engine speed during the shift in order to still get a smooth engagement. Hence this feature. It sounds like a good idea to me, but if it really bugs you maybe consider the automatic version.
(Also, I will note that the last time I drove a 6-speed was when I was driving a 3-on-the-tree truck as my daily driver, so my perception of how close together the ratios were might be a little skewed)
Thank you very much. I am going to try another 6 speed manual transmission Camry Monday night. I’ll let you know how it feels.
I appreciate your input.
As noted above I appreciate your input as well. I’ll post whatever shows up for me after I drive the car tomorrow night.
It’s for emissions. Many manual transmission’d cars do that these days.
If this is a new transmission for Toyota, I would avoid it. Passenger cars do not need 6-speeds. These transmissions can be complex and finicky and nobody knows how to fix them if they break, and they are sure to break…Only a handful of cars will be equipped with this transmission, making it an odd-ball model…Emissions requirements add drivability problems on top of everything else…
A 6-speed manual is complex? Isn’t it just basically a 5-speed with an extra gear? Also when was the last time you had to fix a manual transmission? I had to do it once on an old air-cooled VW, but never before or since.
I’d be interested to hear theories on how this is an emission feature-- it sounds kinda like the old dashpots they had on carbureted cars with automatics, but I hardly see how that would apply to a fuel injected manual-transmission car.
The Mitsubishi 4-speed, used in virtually all rear drive Japanese built vehicles was trouble-free and bullet-proof. When they squeezed in the 5th (overdrive) gear, the trouble started and this “feature” turned into a weak knee…Constantly shifting an over-geared car can get old very quickly…
Our 09 GM car with a 5 speed manual does this too. You learn to adjust for it to some extent by taking your foot off of the gas before you depress the clutch pedal. As for a 6 speed, I think that is totally inappropriate and not needed. It is for marketing reasons rather than function. Our 5 speed car could easily be a 4 speed. The first gear is too low and could be combined with second with a small adjustment downward for third. 4th and 5th are fine as is; could be 3rd and 4th if a 4 speed. The engine has plenty of low speed torque starting at 1000 rpm for this.
Additional manual and automatic transmission speeds are just marketing sizzle in my view. Our other newer car has a 6 speed automatic. It would run just fine with a 4 speed plus lockup. I am not at all impressed with additional gear ratios more than four whether manual or automatic transmission.
Is has to do with unburned hydrocarbons, I think. The idea is that keeping the engine above idle makes it burn cleaner. That’s the gist of it.
That depends greatly on the power curve of the engine and gear ratio selection. On a car with a flexible power band, like a Corvette for example. The 6 speed transmission allows for excellent performance and good cruising fuel economy. The Z06 model with the 7 liter engine has been known to get around 30 MPG on the highway. The transmission’s tall 6th gear allows the engine to loaf around at about 1300 RPM at highway speeds.
On a side note you can get an 8 speed automatic on some Lexus models now.
It’s not marketing. 6 speed gearboxes allow for greater fuel economy and greater performance.
By have more gears availible, it allows for smaller engines to be operated in their powerband more, without having to deal with large RPM falloffs that happen when you have fewer gears to choose from. Two good examples of this are the 08 F150 Vs. The 09 F-150. Both with the 5.4L which is basically the same for each year. But the 08 has a 4 speed auto and the 09 has a 6 speed auto. The 09 is rated for 1-2 MPG better, not much but when you have CAFE standards to meet, a 1-2 MPG improvement is huge. Also the 09 model is more than a second faster going from 0-60, which is also a nice bonus. The Chevy Malibu offers a 4 speed automatic and a 6 speed automatic with the same 2.4L I4. The 6 speed is rated for 3 MPG better on the highway than the 4 speed is. City mileage is rated the same for both. Like the F-150, the 6 speed offers better performance and beter fuel economy.
The old 4-speed can be rebuilt for $1800 and I bet the new 6-speed will need $4500 to get it back on the road when the unhappy 2ed or 3rd owner hits that wall. Ford could not care less about him…Most passenger cars will do just FINE with a 3-speed…For interstate speeds, a 4-speed overdrive is nice. 5 and 6 speeds are mechanical overkill except in sports cars with direct-rail shifting. Connecting a 6-speed to a cable shifter is a joke…High-tech electronic “paddle shifters” are a $2000 repair waiting to happen…
When I lived in San Francisco, I wished my 1.5L 4 banger came with a gear below my 1st with a slightly taller final drive. As it was, the 1st gear could barely get me up the steepest hill without smoking its clutch. On the highway, it cruises at 60 with the engine 1/2 way to redline.
We’ll have to wait and see about that. I do know that some 6 speeds are just 4 speed automatics that use a different combination of internal gears to get two extra ratios out of the same hardware.
No offense, but you sound like my grandfather, who deems front wheel drive as too futuristic 
I have to disagree with the statement that most passenger cars would do just fine with a 3-speed. In the days of huge V-8s that may have been true, but the cars that I’ve driven with 3-speed autos have been really annoying to drive. I also had a 4-speed manual Ford Escort (underpowered, I’ll admit) that was frustrating. The damn things just never had the gear that you needed for pulling hills at any speed. I think that the Escort would have been more tolerable with a 5-speed. First and fourth gears were OK, but the gear ratios were too far apart to accelerate uphill without revving the wee out of it, and believe me, driving in Pittsburgh one notices this after awhile!
Sorry caddyman, but with a 1.5 litre engine and a wide ratio 4-speed you’d have a rough time out-running a bicycle uphill.
A wide-ratio 4-speed would have solved your problem…You don’t need MORE gears, you just need the CORRECT gears…
FoDaddy, a friend of mine just bought a new Ford F-150 5.4L 3-valve and a 6-speed automatic…I know cool stuff when I see it…But it comes at a price, up front and down the road…He has more money than I do, that’s all…Pulling his 23’ camping trailer, it gets 14 MPG at 65mph. Driving empty, it delivers 22 MPG (!) at 75 MPH. I understand the concept…
In the days of huge V8’s, sometimes even 3 gears were more than needed. My '64 LeSabre has a 2-speed auto and it does pretty well both acceleration and gas mileage wise (considering). Those old cars were geared really high-- when I put it to the floor to pass someone on a 2-lane I might get up to 80 in 1st gear!
80 in 1st?! Ouch! I’ve only driven one '60s 2-speed. I just took it for a spin around the park and it seemed to do alright. It was a Pontiac Tempest convertible and I must say, I enjoyed the attention that it attracted!
I had an '88 Chevy Corsica with a 3-speed auto. That was an awful power train. It was awesome in the snow with it’s 185/80 R-13s, though!